Can You Opt Out of CMAS Testing? A Complete Parent & Student Guide 2026 June

Can you opt out of CMAS testing? This is one of the most common questions Colorado parents ask every spring as the Colorado Measures of Academic Success window approaches. The short answer is yes — Colorado law does allow parents and guardians to refuse state assessments on behalf of their children, but the process involves specific steps, potential consequences for schools, and important trade-offs that every family should understand before making a decision. This guide walks through everything you need to know about the CMAS opt-out process in plain language.

Colorado's approach to standardized testing opt-outs differs from many other states. Unlike some states that have formal statutory opt-out procedures, Colorado operates under a refusal policy rather than a true opt-out law. This distinction matters because it affects how schools respond, what data gets reported to the state, and how a student's absence from testing is recorded. Parents who choose this path for cmas testing opt out reasons should be prepared for their school to document the refusal and continue counting the student as a non-participant in state reporting.

The CMAS is administered each year to students in grades 3 through 8, covering English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science at designated grade levels. Social Studies assessments are given in grades 4, 7, and 8. These tests are used by the state of Colorado to measure school and district performance, inform teacher evaluations, and identify students who may need additional academic support. Missing these assessments means that data is not available for any of those purposes, which has ripple effects beyond just one student.

Understanding why CMAS testing exists helps frame the opt-out debate more clearly. Federal law — specifically the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) — requires states to test at least 95 percent of eligible students. Colorado must comply with this federal mandate or risk consequences related to federal education funding. When individual students opt out, their school's participation rate drops, and schools that fall below 95 percent face additional scrutiny, possible intervention, and potential penalties tied to their overall accountability ratings.

Many parents who consider opting out cite concerns about test anxiety, instructional time lost to test preparation, or a general philosophical objection to high-stakes standardized testing. These are legitimate concerns that have been raised by educators, researchers, and advocacy groups for years. At the same time, other families and many educators argue that CMAS data provides important, objective information about student progress that classroom grades alone cannot always capture, especially for identifying learning gaps that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Before deciding whether to pursue a CMAS opt-out, it is worth exploring what the test actually involves and whether targeted preparation might reduce some of the stress associated with it. Students who practice with realistic test materials often feel significantly more confident on test day. The structure of CMAS questions, the time limits, and the online testing interface are all things students can familiarize themselves with well in advance of the official testing window.

This guide covers the legal framework for opting out, the step-by-step process for submitting a refusal, what happens after you opt out, the impact on your child's school, and practical alternatives families might consider before making a final decision. Whether you ultimately choose to participate or refuse, understanding the full picture ensures your choice is genuinely informed rather than reactive.

Understanding the step-by-step opt-out process is essential for any family considering this route. The process begins well before the testing window opens, ideally in late winter or early spring when your school or district sends home information about upcoming CMAS dates. The earlier you communicate your intent to refuse, the more time school administrators have to prepare and the smoother the process will be for everyone involved, including your child's teacher and the building testing coordinator.

The first practical step is to contact your child's school in writing. While some districts accept verbal notice, a written letter creates a clear paper trail and eliminates any ambiguity about your intent. Address the letter to the building principal and the district's assessment coordinator. State clearly that you are refusing CMAS participation on behalf of your child and include your child's full name, grade, date of birth, and student ID number if available. Keep a copy of the letter for your own records and follow up to confirm receipt.

Some Colorado school districts have developed their own refusal or opt-out forms to standardize the process. Ask your school's front office whether such a form exists before writing a custom letter. Using the district's official form — if one exists — ensures your refusal is processed correctly within the district's data management system and reduces the likelihood of any administrative confusion about whether the student was absent versus intentionally not participating.

Once your refusal is on file, ask the school what your child will do during the testing window. Colorado schools are required to provide a supervised alternative activity for students who are not testing, but the nature of that activity varies widely. Some schools provide quiet reading time or allow students to work on assignments in a library or designated room. Others may have students remain in their homeroom classroom while other students test, depending on how testing is organized at that building.

It is also worth asking your school whether the refusal covers all CMAS subjects or whether you need to submit separate notices for each assessment. In some districts, a single letter covers all testing for the school year. In others, administrators may interpret the refusal as subject-specific, meaning a student who is not refusing Math could theoretically still be asked to take ELA. Clarifying this point upfront prevents confusion and ensures your child's experience during the testing window matches your expectations.

Parents should also be aware of the timeline sensitivity. CMAS testing windows are set by the state and typically run for several weeks in late winter and early spring. Once testing has begun at your school, late refusals can create logistical complications. Some schools may have already entered your child into the testing system, and removing them mid-window requires additional administrative steps. The cleaner approach is always to submit your refusal at least two to three weeks before the first CMAS session at your child's school.

Finally, document everything. Save copies of any correspondence with the school, note the date and name of any school staff member you spoke with, and retain any forms you completed. If questions arise later about whether your child's non-participation was intentional or an administrative error, your records will resolve the issue quickly. This documentation also protects you if the school mistakenly codes your child as absent rather than refused, which could affect how the situation is reported to the CDE.

Before finalizing an opt-out decision, Colorado families should seriously consider the range of alternatives that address the underlying concerns without removing a student from testing entirely. The most common reason parents consider opting out is test anxiety, and this is a legitimate educational concern that deserves a thoughtful response. Research consistently shows that adequate preparation — including familiarity with test format, practice with timed questions, and a positive testing mindset — significantly reduces anxiety and improves performance for the majority of students.

One powerful alternative to opting out is working with your child's teacher or school counselor to develop a specific anxiety-reduction plan for the testing window. Many schools offer accommodations for students with documented anxiety or learning differences, including extended time, small group testing environments, and scheduled breaks during testing sessions. These accommodations are available through a formal 504 Plan or Individual Education Program (IEP) and do not require a student to opt out — they simply change the conditions under which the student takes the test.

Parents who object to the amount of time spent on test preparation — as opposed to testing itself — may find it more productive to advocate at the district or school board level for changes to how instructional time is allocated leading up to CMAS. Many educators share the concern that excessive test prep crowds out deeper learning. Joining your school's parent advisory council or speaking at school board meetings is a way to channel that concern into systemic change that benefits all students, rather than addressing it solely at the level of one child's participation.

Another alternative worth exploring is requesting a meeting with your child's teacher and school counselor to review all available academic data before deciding that CMAS results are unnecessary. If your child has strong classroom grades, recent benchmark assessment scores, and positive teacher feedback, you may already have robust evidence of academic progress that makes the CMAS feel redundant. Conversely, if there are gaps in that picture, CMAS data might actually be more valuable to your family than it initially seemed.

Families who are philosophically opposed to standardized testing as a policy matter can make a meaningful contribution to the broader conversation by engaging with organizations like the Colorado Education Association, local parent-teacher organizations, and advocacy groups that work on assessment policy at the state legislature level. Colorado's testing requirements are set through a combination of state statute and federal mandate, and both can be changed through the democratic process. Parent voices have influenced Colorado testing policy before, and organized advocacy has led to reductions in the total number of required state assessments over the past decade.

If your concern is specifically about data privacy — how your child's CMAS results are stored, shared, and used — Colorado has student data privacy protections in place under state law. You can request information from your school district about how assessment data is protected, who has access to it, and how long it is retained. Understanding the actual data practices may reduce privacy-related concerns and give you greater confidence in allowing your child to participate without feeling that personal information is being mishandled or shared inappropriately.

Finally, consider the long-term perspective. CMAS testing spans grades 3 through 8, which means a student who participates every year builds up a multi-year longitudinal record of growth across core subjects. This record can be genuinely useful when families are evaluating whether a student is on track, when middle school counselors are making course placement recommendations, or when a student transitions to high school and begins thinking about college readiness. Maintaining a complete testing record keeps all of those options open in ways that opting out, year after year, does not.

Preparing your child effectively for CMAS testing is one of the best ways to make the opt-out question feel less urgent. When students feel confident and ready, the anxiety that drives many opt-out conversations largely disappears. Preparation does not mean drilling practice questions for weeks on end — it means ensuring your child understands what to expect, has practiced with the right kinds of materials, and approaches test day with a calm, ready mindset rather than a fearful one.

Start preparation early, ideally in the fall or early winter before the spring testing window. Brief, consistent practice sessions are far more effective than intensive cramming in the weeks immediately before the test. Fifteen to twenty minutes of focused practice three or four times per week does more for a student's readiness than two hours of practice the weekend before testing begins. The goal is to build familiarity and fluency with the types of questions CMAS asks, not to memorize specific answers.

The Colorado Department of Education publishes sample questions, practice tests, and testing tutorials on its official website. These resources give students direct experience with the online testing interface, the question formats used in each subject area, and the types of extended response tasks that appear on CMAS ELA assessments. Spending time with these official materials is more valuable than any third-party preparation product because the content and format match exactly what students will encounter on test day.

Subject-specific preparation matters as well. For math, students should be comfortable with the specific standards being assessed at their grade level under Colorado Academic Standards. For ELA, strong reading comprehension and the ability to write organized, evidence-based responses are the skills that matter most. For science assessments in grades 5 and 8, the focus is on applying scientific reasoning and understanding the Colorado Academic Standards for science, which are based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) framework.

Managing test-day logistics is also part of preparation. Students perform better when they have had adequate sleep in the nights leading up to testing, have eaten a nutritious breakfast on test day, and arrive at school on time without rushing. These practical factors have a measurable impact on cognitive performance and are entirely within a family's control. Talking with your child about test-day routines and what to expect logistically can reduce the psychological load of the day significantly.

Encourage your child to approach CMAS with a growth mindset rather than a performance mindset. The goal of the test is not a perfect score — it is an honest snapshot of where a student is academically at this moment in time. Students who understand this framing tend to engage more genuinely with the questions rather than shutting down when they encounter something difficult. Remind your child that doing their personal best is the only realistic and appropriate goal, and that one test does not define their intelligence, worth, or future potential.

If your child has already taken CMAS in a previous year, review their prior score reports together before the next testing window. Score reports include detailed information about performance in each tested area, including which standards a student met or approached. This information can help you and your child identify where to focus preparation time most productively. Schools are required to send score reports home, and families who do not receive them should contact the school office to request a copy — they are a genuinely useful planning tool that many families overlook.

Practical preparation tips can make the difference between a student who walks into CMAS feeling overwhelmed and one who approaches the test with genuine readiness. The single most important thing families can do is normalize testing as a routine part of the school year rather than treating it as a high-stakes event that demands special dread or special celebration. When adults around a student speak about CMAS calmly and matter-of-factly, students internalize that same emotional tone and are far less likely to develop the kind of acute test anxiety that prompts opt-out conversations in the first place.

Create a consistent study routine in the weeks before CMAS that does not look dramatically different from your child's regular homework schedule. Sudden, dramatic increases in academic pressure are counterproductive and signal to a child that something unusually difficult is approaching. Instead, brief daily or every-other-day review sessions that feel like normal studying keep skills sharp without creating anxiety. If your child uses an online practice platform, set sessions for the same time and place each day so the routine becomes automatic rather than effortful.

Talk with your child's teacher about what specific skills will be emphasized on CMAS at their particular grade level. Teachers can often provide targeted guidance about which academic standards their class has fully covered versus which ones received less instructional time due to curriculum pacing. This information helps families direct home practice toward the areas where a student has the greatest opportunity to strengthen their understanding rather than reviewing material they already know well.

Pay attention to your child's sleep schedule in the two weeks before testing begins. Adolescent research consistently shows that sleep deprivation has a larger negative impact on cognitive performance than almost any other factor families can influence. Students who are sleep-deprived during testing periods perform measurably worse than rested peers, regardless of how well-prepared they are otherwise. Protecting sleep time — including limiting screen time in the evenings — is one of the highest-leverage interventions available to parents before any standardized test.

On the days when CMAS is scheduled, ensure your child has a nutritious breakfast that includes protein and complex carbohydrates rather than high-sugar options that cause energy spikes and crashes. Many schools offer breakfast programs, and some districts provide meals specifically during testing windows. Arriving at school ten to fifteen minutes early on testing days allows your child to settle in, greet friends, and begin the session in a calm state rather than rushing in feeling stressed about being late.

After testing is complete, resist the urge to debrief your child intensively about how specific questions went or whether they think they did well. Post-test analysis of individual questions is rarely productive and can increase anxiety about upcoming testing sessions. Instead, acknowledge the effort your child made, do something enjoyable as a family, and let the experience settle. CMAS results are typically released several months after testing concludes, giving families and educators time to review them thoughtfully rather than reacting in the immediate aftermath of a stressful experience.

For families who ultimately do decide to opt out this year, keep the door open for participation in future years. A child who opts out in third grade due to extreme anxiety may be in a very different place academically and emotionally by fifth grade, especially if the intervening years have included therapeutic support for anxiety, stronger academic preparation, or simply natural developmental growth. Opt-out decisions made in one year do not need to become permanent policies for every subsequent year of a child's school career.